Russia extends ban on imports of Polish meat

Russia has extended its ban on Polish imports to cover live animals, deepening a row that is already blighting the EU’s relations with Russia.

Diplomats said that Russia had increased its ban on animal and plant products to include live animal exports, further reducing the chances of resolving the dispute in time for the EU-Russia summit, which will take place in the Russian city of Samara on 18 May. The Polish government said that the ban was unjustified and was politically motivated.

It said that it would continue to veto the launch of talks on a new EU-Russia treaty unless Moscow made a firm commitment to lift the ban. Poland first vetoed the talks with Russia in November last year.

EU officials have been unsuccessfully working to end the 16-month-old ban so that negotiations can start at the summit.

Two days of talks in April between Markos Kyprianou, the European health commissioner, and Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev failed to end the deadlock.

At the meeting, Gordeyev indicated that Russia wanted more inspections of Polish facilities to examine hygiene standards.

The Russian government claims that Polish inspection licences have been falsified and that the EU is dumping on Russia meat that it deems unsuitable for consumption by its own citizens.

According to diplomatic sources, Russia has offered to start joint EU-Russia inspections of individual farms and later slaughterhouses and processing plants in Poland. If these inspections were carried out, Russia said it would lift the ban on live animals exported for slaughter. But no timetable was given for lifting the ban on meat products.

The European Commission last Thursday (26 April) told the Russian side that the EU was open to starting joint inspections but that they must be accompanied by progressive measures to phase out the embargo.

EU officials said that they hoped to whittle down Russia’s ban by limiting the number of products covered, but so far Russia has resisted these efforts.

Poland is also urging the Commission to address the question of energy security in any future negotiations with Russia on a new agreement.

Diplomats estimate that it will be impossible to reach a deal at the summit, which takes place against a background of unprecedented tension between Russia and Estonia.

Russia has extended its ban on Polish imports to cover live animals, deepening a row that is already blighting the EU’s relations with Russia.